FAA: Tired air traffic controllers can skip work (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Federal Aviation Administration announced new steps Friday to help prevent air traffic controllers from falling asleep on the job, including allowing controllers to use sick or annual leave time if they are too tired to work.

Controllers will also now be allowed to listen to the radio and read to help stay alert during overnight shifts when traffic is light under an agreement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

However, the policy changes don't include allowing controllers to take naps while on break or to schedule naps during overnight shifts even though sleep scientists say that's the most effective way to refresh tired workers.

Currently, controllers caught napping, even when on break, can be fired.

"While on break, air traffic controllers are expected to conduct themselves professionally and be available for recall at all times," the agency said in a statement.

Since April, the FAA has disclosed seven instances of controllers sleeping on the job and two other instances of controllers who didn't respond to attempts to contact them. In one case, two airliners landed at Reagan National airport in northern Virginia near Washington without assistance from a controller who has acknowledged dozing off.

In another case, FAA has said a medical flight with a seriously ill patient had to circle an airport in Reno, Nev., before landing because the lone controller on duty had fallen asleep.

Studies show most night shift workers, not just controllers, face difficulties staying awake no matter how much sleep they've had. That's especially true if they aren't active or don't have work that keeps them mentally engaged. Controllers on night shifts often work overnight in darkened rooms with frequent periods of little or no air traffic to occupy their attention ? conditions scientists say are conducive to falling asleep.

"Air traffic controllers have the responsibility to report rested and ready to work so they can safely perform their operational duties," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a statement. "But we also need to make sure we have the right policies in place to reduce the possibility of fatigue in the workplace."

John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and a member of an FAA fatigue advisory committee, said that even with the policy changes, the agency's approach to fatigue lags far behind contemporary scientific understanding of how to prevent workers from falling sleep or becoming so tired their ability to function is eroded.

"Ironically, the information on what is an enlightened policy on fatigue resides within the FAA in all the (research) they've done over the years on fatigue," Goglia said.

After disclosure of the first few sleeping incidents, FAA officials adjusted controllers' work schedules to provide a minimum of nine hours off between shifts, an increase of an hour.

However, the agreement between the agency and the union puts off decisions on what to do about work schedules that have been criticized as especially fatigue-inducing. One common weekly schedule is called "the rattler" by controllers because it turns around and bites those who work it. But it's popular with some controllers because it effectively creates a three-day weekend.

Instead, the agency and the controllers association said they are also working on developing new work schedule "principles" aimed at reducing fatigue. They said those principles will be ready in 14 months if not sooner. And, they said, new work schedules are already being put in place in some air traffic facilities.

The FAA said it has also agreed to develop policies to encourage controllers to seek medical help for sleep apnea, a disorder that causes abnormal pauses in breathing and often prevents restful sleep. Currently, controllers diagnosed with sleep apnea aren't permitted to continue to work.

The agency said it will work to develop a process for most air traffic controllers with sleep apnea to regain their medical qualification after receiving medical treatment.

Under the agreement, the FAA is also developing a system to collect and analyze data associated with work schedules, including work intensity, to ensure that the schedules are not increasing the possibility of fatigue. Such "fatigue management" systems are commonly used in other areas of aviation, including flight crew schedules.

___

Online:

Federal Aviation Administration www.faa.gov

National Air Traffic Controllers Association www.natca.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110701/ap_on_bi_ge/us_air_traffic_controllers_fatigue

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Kinect system for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. | cheap xbox 360 elite

Handsfree revolutionizing the world of game consolesOne dream of scientists in the field of computer science has been to interfaces that allow interaction with the computer in a comfortable and friendly, ensuring that the elements used are flexible in their use while permitting the identification User and recognition of their movements and expressions, definitely leaving aside the use of mouse or keyboard to interact with the computer

The dream is coming true and now we can say that it has taken a big step with the debut of the system Kinect a system developed by Microsoft for its new range of games compatible with all Xbox 360 consoles that will replace the famous Wii (Nintendo) that has been so well received in the market and thus contributed to the development and management of positional sensors and controls for interaction. But this time there are no wires or remotes: The whole secret is in a three-dimensional video camera, two infrared sensors deep and highly sensitive multi-directional microphone.

Kinect system is capable of processing images of people and recognize them change movements, put in their swept area to the person and recognize your voice and your message. Kinect analyzed in three dimensions the movement of entire body while introducing the necessary commands, the direction of movement or even the tone of our voice. This system, unlike others, does not depend on the light. You can recognize just by focusing with your camera, and not just react to words, but understands what you say.

Microsoft is set to head this new technology with emphasis on the two other major companies that monopolize the market for Nintendo consoles (Wii) and Sony (PlayStation). This market of electronic entertainment this bail out a number of very interesting technologies that undoubtedly will bring significant added value to other areas such as robotics industry, medicine, sport, design and home automation, among others.

Kinect system is based on the above sensors, camera, depth gauges and microphone, but we must not forget that the most important is the core processing of these signals and their interaction in a fully interactive graphical environment.

How the system recognizes your

movements? The camera takes pictures that explore up to 20 remarkable points of our anatomy through which it is virtually impossible to identify the most significant movements of our body. With this information and software based on image recognition by employers (as used in robotics technology) is possible with your body the player controls the action in the game. If he skips the character jump counterpart of the game, if he hits with his fist hit the game character. All this makes the Wii and PlayStation, but with controls. The surprise and the wonder is that in this case there is no command or sensor in the hand or the player's body. Once the machine recognizes the player that becomes the true driver of the game through their movement and expressions.

The sensor manager to put the player in the space of camera range are infrared sensors deep. These inform the system of the player's exact position allowing the execution of actions that the high-resolution three-dimensional camera collected and processed to generate real-time images to be analyzed by the game engine and thereby causes coordinated responses of the system.

Speech recognition and analysis of phonemes allows the player to give orders and answering questions. The system previously know to identify the voice in combination with the player.

Microsoft claims that the system does not only play games but also allows people to connect to each other, to share information through social networks like Facebook or Twitter, for watching sports or movies together and go commenting ...

A Kinect also accompany the launch Kinect Sports sports games, a proposal to get in shape; Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, and a bachelor of dance, Dance Central. In addition, Microsoft announced version slim (thin) on your Xbox 360, which will have a 250 GB hard drive and integrated WiFi network in addition to exclusive games Reach Halo, Fable III and Gears of War 3.

It is clear that this advance in the game world will have a significant impact on other areas of applied computing. It is expected that these systems are incorporated into a wide range of applications that will facilitate interaction between the user and the computer.

Source: http://cheapxbox360eliteblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/kinect-system-for-microsofts-xbox-360.html

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Report: More than 100 million suffer lasting pain (AP)

WASHINGTON ? At least 116 million U.S. adults experience long-lasting pain ? the kind that lingers for weeks to months ? and too often feel stigma rather than relief from a health care system poorly prepared to treat them, the Institute of Medicine said Wednesday.

All kinds of ailments can trigger lingering pain, from arthritis to cancer, spine problems to digestive disorders, even as-yet-undiagnosed conditions. Whatever the cause, chronic pain costs the nation more than heart disease in medical bills, sick days and lost productivity, the report found. The tab: Anywhere from $560 billion to $635 billion a year.

Effective pain management is "a moral imperative," the report concludes, urging the government, medical groups and insurers to take a series of steps to transform the field.

"We're viewing this as a critical issue for the United States," said Dr. Phillip Pizzo of Stanford University, who chaired the months-long probe.

For too long, doctors and society alike have viewed pain "with some prejudice, a lot of judgment and unfortunately not a lot of informed fact," he said.

Regulatory and law enforcement steps to fight the serious problem of abuse of narcotic painkillers can be one barrier. But the institute countered that it's far more likely for a pain patient to get inadequate care than for a drug-seeker to walk out with an inappropriate prescription. Those narcotic painkillers are a safe and effective option for the right patient, the report said.

But barriers to good care extend far beyond that one issue, said the prestigious panel, which analyzed research and the reports of more than 2,000 patients and caregivers about pain's toll.

Because pain can't be seen like bleeding, or felt like a lump, or X-rayed like a broken bone, or heard like a skipped heartbeat, health workers who wrongly believe the intensity of pain should correlate to a specific medical finding may diminish or even dismiss a patient's complaint, the report found.

In fact, pain is highly subjective. Two people with the same injury may feel different degrees of pain depending on genetic factors that affect pain tolerance, what other illnesses they have, stress or depression, and even whether they feel support or criticism from health workers or their families.

Even when pain is properly recognized, care must be tailored to each patient and often requires more than one type of therapy. Yet too few doctors are trained in its management, the report said, citing a study that found stand-alone pain courses aren't required in most medical schools. Also, insurance frequently doesn't cover the time-consuming but crucial counseling of patients in pain-management techniques, consultations with specialists or even certain treatments, such as physical therapy.

And appropriate care isn't just an issue for people with cancer or arthritis or some other severe, chronic disease. Properly treating acute pain, like that from surgery or a broken bone, is important as well. Immediate suffering aside, serious pain that isn't properly treated sometimes can hijack the nervous system and essentially rewire it for pain ? leaving misery even after the condition that caused the initial pain is resolved. That form of hard-to-treat chronic pain, the report stressed, can be a disease all its own.

Congress mandated the report as part of the new health care law. Among the report's recommendations:

_Health providers should provide and document formal pain assessments of patients, a step toward picking the right treatment.

_Medicare, Medicaid, workers' compensation programs and private health plans should cover tailored patient pain care.

_Pain specialty groups should create collaborations with primary care doctors to improve patient care and counseling.

_The government and health organizations should better educate patients and the public about pain, to help eliminate stigma.

_The National Institutes of Health should increase pain research, including designating one of its centers as the lead institute for pain.

_Training programs for doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals should include pain education.

_By the end of next year, the Health and Human Services Department should create a strategy for dealing with pain as a public health problem and reducing barriers to care.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110629/ap_on_he_me/us_med_chronic_pain

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Tricks To Keep Away From Pitfalls In Possessing Investment Leasing ...

Description

Owning and operating investment rental property can provide a lot of essential advantages. There are potential disadvantages to owning rental property; however, you?ll be able to help to minimize doable pitfalls by following certain pointers to guard your investment.

First, all the time be sure that your expectations concerning investing in rental property are affordable and realistic. You must all the time method the investment of rental property with the objective of achieving an optimistic cash circulation; however, do not expect that you will be able to buy a new trip house within a year.

In addition, you will need to just remember to take the time to do your research and make sure that you perceive the rules and rules regarding the ownership and operation of rental property. Because the proprietor of rental property, you could abide by certain federal and state laws which provide particular information relating to your liabilities and responsibilities.

Alongside those same lines, you will need to make sure that any lease or rental agreements you deal with are completely legal. In case you deal with a lease or rental settlement which is not authorized, you may experience a variety of issues in case your tenant occurs to violate phrases of the lease. To be safe, it is best to have an attorney draft your lease and rental agreements.

Earlier than buying any rental property, you?ll want to have the property inspected or else you may uncover you?re going through a set of expenses you didn?t anticipate. Having the property inspected by an expert earlier than you sign on the dotted line will contain an expense; however, compared to the bills you would face by buying a property without an inspection, it?s certainly nicely price it.

Once you start the method of renting out your property, take the time to run credit checks and name references. These are both steps which many novice landlords often overlook in their rush to fill their rental properties and begin turning a revenue; nonetheless, it can be detrimental. Remember that having an empty unit is always higher than dashing and having an irresponsible tenant who may destroy your property, get behind on their rent and in the end prove difficult to evict.

Joining the Landlords? Association in your native area can also prove to be helpful by placing you in reference to skilled buyers and landlords. You may as well achieve entry to reliable contractors, inspectors and other professionals who could make the process of working rental property a lot easier.

It is also crucial that you just ensure you have ample property insurance coverage as well as liability insurance. Property insurance coverage will help to guard your funding while liability insurance coverage will protect you in the event something ought to happen to somebody while in your property.

Finally, be sure you take the time to determine an emergency fund in order to cover expenses which may crop up unexpectedly. Keep in mind that you?re operating a business and as such you have to be ready for these instances when expenses arise. The exact amount that you want to contribute to your emergency fund is in the end as much as you; however, it should be sufficient to cover typical expenses that will arise. The general rule of thumb is to put aside 20% of the worth of your property. To make the method of establishing an emergency fund easier, consider setting apart a specific amount of your rental receipts each month right into a particular account.

If you want more facts in regard to property investment visit Ernie Gredswerly?s website unhesitatingly.

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Source: http://www.fixiones.com/housingreal-estate/tricks-to-keep-away-from-pitfalls-in-possessing-investment-leasing-real-estate/

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 1st, 2011 at 10:08 am and is filed under Biz / Investing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.meltrestaurant.com/regent-travel-insurance/

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With Meditation Techniques for Anxiety & Stress, Sleep Peacefully

Though meditation is a traditional concept, yet it is considered as a novel technique to provide relief from stress. The saints and sages in ancient times were always seen to meditate, which in turn gave them the strength to perform the activities which were not possible for the common men. In current era, people hardly have much time to devote to such activities and hence it is advisable to them to give at least few minutes to meditation techniques for anxiety & stress and then see and feel the difference. In addition, sleep meditation techniques also play a vital role in enabling the individuals facing sleeping difficulties to get rid of their problems, thereby assuring of dreamless nights for them.

Meditation provides immense strength and power to the practitioners, which enhances their ability to sense the things which is difficult to be felt by others.

In short, it improves the sixth sense of the ones who regularly practice meditation. This is something that might not be a requirement of the common people as they are happy with whatever capabilities they have. However, various meditation techniques for anxiety & stress are there which when practiced ensures stress relief. Nowadays, each and every individual has some kind of worries, which in turn increases the stress level, which ultimately forms of the base of several diseases. Meditation techniques for anxiety & stress are far more preferable than the pills and medications prescribed by the doctors.

If you have decided not to opt for meditation techniques for anxiety & stress just because of the negative comments of some people, you must not do that.

If the techniques have remained ineffective in case of some practitioners, it is just because of their irregularity in practising the techniques. Meditation techniques are helpful for all. If it seems to not yield effective results, you must notify your defect and accordingly continue to practice it. To make meditation techniques for anxiety & stress more and more effective, you must practice it regularly and properly. Adopting improper means of practice would never yield productive results.

Meditation techniques for anxiety & stress are too relaxing and hence popular among many individuals. Focused breathing exercises have been found to be the most efficacious ways of reducing stress level through meditation. If you are among the ones, that sound poses negative effect on the practitioners while they meditate, you are under a great misunderstanding. This is because use of sound enhances your level of concentration, thereby making meditation techniques for anxiety & stress more efficient. However, choosing an appropriate sound at a suitable frequency is very important while meditating using sound. The effects of these techniques are quite instant which produce immediate results.

When you are stressed, it becomes difficult to have a sound sleep. In such a situation, most of you opt for pills and medications that the doctors prescribe. Utilise sleep meditation techniques and get a chance to experience dreamless nights. It is a more natural and safe approach than taking in the medicines which might pose side effects after consumption.

Source: http://health.ezinemark.com/with-meditation-techniques-for-anxiety-stress-sleep-peacefully-7d2f2cca1927.html

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World News Live ? Worst Drought in 60 Years Hitting Horn of Africa

Somali civilians have suffered much as a result of the US political and military interference in their country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Worst drought in 60 years hitting Horn of Africa: U.N.

8:33am EDT

GENEVA (Reuters) - The worst drought in 60 years in the Horn of Africa has sparked a severe food crisis and high malnutrition rates, with parts of Kenya and Somalia experiencing pre-famine conditions, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

More than 10 million people are now affected in drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda and the situation is deteriorating, it said.

"Two consecutive poor rainy seasons have resulted in one of the driest years since 1950/51 in many pastoral zones," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a media briefing.

"There is no likelihood of improvement (in the situation)until 2012," she said.

Food prices have risen substantially in the region, pushing many moderately poor households over the edge, she said.

A U.N. map of food security in the eastern Horn of Africa shows large swathes of central Kenya and Somalia in the "emergency" category, one phase before what the U.N. classifies as catastrophe/famine -- the fifth and worst category.

Child malnutrition rates in the worst affected areas are more than double the emergency threshold of 15 percent and are expected to rise further, Byrs said.

High mortality rates among children are reported, but she had no figures for the toll.

Drought and fighting are driving ever greater numbers of Somalis from their homeland, with more than 20,000 arriving in Kenya in just the past two weeks, the U.N. refuge agency UNHCR said on Friday. It voiced alarm at the dramatic rise, noting the average monthly outflow had been about 10,000 so far this year.

Almost half the Somali children arriving in refugee camps in Ethiopia are malnourished, and those arriving in Kenya are little better, Byrs said.

U.N. humanitarian appeals for Somalia and Kenya, each about $525 million, are barely 50 percent funded, while a $30 million appeal for Djibouti is just 30 percent funded, she said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://www.worldnewslive.net/?p=62967

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